Germany, UK urged to change ‘discriminatory’ road tolls

The European Commission on Thursday threatened legal action against Germany and the U.K. unless they change road toll schemes that it says unfairly target foreign drivers.

Germany has been told not to introduce a law under which all users of the Autobahn would be charged up to €130 per year, but German residents would get a reimbursement through their motor vehicle taxes. The law already has the support of German lawmakers.

The Commission said in a statement that it supports the “user and polluter pays” principle, but added that “despite numerous exchanges with the German authorities since November 2014,” fundamental concerns about the scheme “have not been addressed.”

Germany has two months to notify the Commission of measures taken to address the EU concerns or it could be taken to the European Court of Justice.

In response, Germany’s transport minister, Alexander Dobrindt, made clear that little was going to change in the short term and he was “prepared for the disputes before the ECJ.”

“The sooner, the better,” Dobrindt said, according to N-TV. “There is obviously a different legal opinion between Germany and the Commission — but this will be clarified where it needs to be clarified and that is the ECJ.”

The U.K. has also come under fire over the introduction of a charge for drivers of heavy goods vehicles based on the number of hours they spend on the road.

The British came up with the law in 2014 after complaining that British truck drivers faced similar charges when delivering goods in Europe. The Commission says the scheme is unfair on non-British drivers.

The U.K. also has two months to respond to the charges, but the threat from the Commission is less harsh than that given to Germany. If the U.K. fails to address the concerns, the Commission “will consider moving to the next stage of infringement proceedings.”